Osaka – Hiroshi Kiyotake, one of five Japanese to have played in both the German and Spanish top divisions, was happy to see his country join the former World Cup winners in Group E of this year’s tournament in Qatar.
Currently captaining Cerezo Osaka in the J. League first division, the 32-year-old said his sentiment was not necessarily just nostalgia from his time in Europe but more from Japan getting to face two title favorites on the biggest stage.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.